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The Complete Short Stories is a collection to be loved and cherished, from one of the finest short-story writers of the twentieth century. From the cruel irony of A member of the Family to the fateful echoes of The Go-Away Bird and the unexpectedly sinister The Girl I Left Behind Me, in settings that range from South Africa to the Portobello Road, Muriel Spark coolly probes the idiosyncrasies that lurk beneath the veneer of human respectability, displaying the acerbic wit and wisdom that are the hallmarks of her unique talent.

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The Girls of Slender Means

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Memento Mori

Muriel Spark's blackly comic masterwork begins with a voice on the telephone warning, "Remember, you must die." The recipient of the grim message is elderly Dame Lettie Colston, but soon 10 of Lettie's oldest friends also become targets of Death's anonymous herald. A bizarre investigation lays bare an intricate network of deception and disloyalty that binds together the vulnerable group of aging eccentrics.

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My Life as a Man

At its heart lies the marriage of Peter and Maureen Tarnopol, a gifted young writer and the woman who wants to be his muse but who instead is his nemesis. Their union is based on fraud and shored up by moral blackmail, but it is so perversely durable that, long after Maureen’s death, Peter is still trying—and failing—to write his way free of it.

Middlemarch

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An American Tragedy

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A Handful of Dust

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Publisher's Summary

In the classic work that launched a play, a movie, and a song, Muriel Spark tells the darkly intriguing story of an eccentric Edinburgh teacher and the intense relationship she develops with six of her students.

The scandalously outspoken Miss Brodie makes big waves in the conservative Scottish school, preaching the value of art, passion, and daring. While her bold values inspire an almost cult-like reverence in her young protégées, her politics, rivalries, and frank sensuality lead ultimately to her downfall.

Told from the unsympathetic perspective of one of Miss Brodie's students, the novel explores themes of innocence and betrayal and the tension between cold rationality and unchecked emotionalism.

Ms. May delivers this classic with her usual nuanced precision, moving between voices, young and old, male and female, high born and low, flawlessly. Though you may have read this book years ago, it has surprises on re-reading. It is a tale of complex characters that leaves you divided in your sympathies. This is a short novel that has stood the test of time and Ms. May's expert narration is theatre for the ear.

I highly recommend this short novel. It is a very well written story about innocent impression, that evokes sympathies that change as the 'girls' grow up.I kept reminding myself that the book was published in the early 60's, but i'm not sure it required such reminders, being so much ahead of its time.unlike the initial impression, i found in the book, much beyond the 'growing up' aspect.

It was especially touching, to recognize the author in 'Sandy', and realise that Spark was inspired by her own 'Miss Brodie in her prime'.